The host San Antonio Spurs will go for their fourth straight win and look to capture the season series when they square off against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday in the second game of a two-night, back-to-back.
San Antonio took Monday’s game with the Warriors 105-100 thanks to Dejounte Murray’s 27 points, 10 rebounds and career-best eight steals. The Spurs have now won five straight games against the Warriors in San Antonio and evened the season-series at a game apiece. Golden State beat the Spurs 121-99 in San Francisco on Jan. 20.
Murray’s 3-pointer gave San Antonio a four-point lead late, but after Stephen Curry answered with a jumper from beyond the arc, the Spurs led just 101-100 with 9.2 seconds to play. DeMar DeRozan canned four free throws down the stretch and after a wild, near-half-court 3-pointer by Golden State’s Draymond Green, the Spurs were able to hold on.
Murray’s eight steals were the most in the NBA this season. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich lauded his point guard after the game for his performance, the latest in a series of big games this season.
“Dejounte has the ability to do that on an even more consistent basis,” Popovich said. “He wants to be pushed, and we are pushing him. So his aggressiveness tonight was great.”
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Two other Spurs players finished with double-doubles, with DeRozan adding 21 points and 10 assists, and Jakob Poeltl scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Rudy Gay and Devin Vassell scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for San Antonio.
Popovich called his team’s defense, especially in the final minutes, the key to Monday’s win.
“Our perimeter D has improved significantly since season’s start,” Popovich said. “Every team is a battle as far as making them understand that defense is what gets you to where you want to go. I believe they are getting to believe that.”
Curry paced the Warriors with 32 points in Monday’s loss, while Kelly Oubre Jr. added 24, Andrew Wiggins hit for 11, and Green had 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Golden State has dropped two in a row.
Curry played over 35 minutes in the game but was clearly itching to get back into the action early in the fourth quarter when the Spurs’ run gave them the lead for good.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained afterward that the team was going to keep Curry to his predetermined 35 or fewer minutes per game, no matter the situation.
“For me, for our organization, we’re not putting Steph out there for 40 minutes to chase wins,” Kerr said. “We’ve got another game tomorrow. We want Steph to be playing at a high level for many years. So we’re going to stay disciplined and try to keep him at that 34- or 35-minute mark.”
The Spurs played without starters LaMarcus Aldridge (hip) and Lonnie Walker IV (stomach illness) on Monday. Walker is expected to play Tuesday. Derrick White will sit out Tuesday’s game to rest his surgically repaired toe on the back end of the two-games-in-two-nights mini-series.
Golden State was missing rookie center James Wiseman, who has a sprained left wrist. Wiseman will also be out on Tuesday.
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–Field Level Media